"... after the Texas Revolution in 1836, the area experienced a great land rush. By 1840 at least forty-nine families were established in the area that became Panola County."In 1840 the boundary between the Republic of Texas and the United States (the line that later became the county's eastern boundary) was settled. "On March 30, 1846, the Texas legislature established Panola [derived from ponolo, the Cherokee word for 'cotton'] County from parts of Shelby and Harrison counties. "Because the legislature specified that the county seat was to be within five miles of the center of the county, it took two years for the county to choose a permanent seat of government. Only two real villages, Pulaski and Grand Bluff, existed in the area in 1846; both were ferry towns on the Sabine River. [Despite its location, an] election on August 23 [1846] chose Pulaski, by a small majority, as the county seat."After dissatisfied citizens challenged the legality of the choice, ... an election [was] held in August 1848 [and] the voters of the county chose Carthage [as the county seat]."Leila B. LaGrone, "PANOLA COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online

I visited Panola County and photographed the courthouse on Friday, March 23, 2012 and again, on Friday, June 6, 2014.

The Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Center

Panola County Courthouse 1885

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Photo, circa 1939, courtesy TXDOT

An Irish-American brickmaker and mason, John Joseph Emmett Gibson, created this castle-like courthouse. It, and the Shelby County courthouse of the same year, were two of a kind, unlike any other courthouse in Texas. The Shelby County courthouse in Center, just a few miles south of Carthage, survives.

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

The courthouse square in downtown Carthage. In 1956 the historic 1885 courthouse was demolished. The salvaged bricks sold for $3,000.

The location of the 1885 courthouse is now a garden

Panola County Courthouse 1953

Image courtesy courthousehistory.com

Preston M. Geren, Sr. (1891-1969) was both architect and engineer for this courthouse. A 1912 graduate of Texas A&M, Geren was chief engineer for the Fort Worth architectural firm of Sanguinet, Staats, and Hedrick (later Wyatt C. Hedrick Inc.) from 1923-34. Notably, Geren was associate architect for the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, designed by Louis Kahn.

The courthouse entrance

The front of the courthouse faces east. I arrived in Carthage in late afternoon and found the front facade in the shade. A second visit to Carthage is on my to do list.

Another view of the east facade

2014: the front façade in the sunlight. New letters for the county sign above the front doors

Interesting. The jail is located above the main entrance to the courthouse

The south facade of the courthouse

An addition on the southwest corner of the courthouse

A large, multi-story addition on the northwest corner of the courthouse

What were they thinking? A pitched roof? No windows? Two small louvers as the principal focus?